Question
Do car insurance companies share information?
My rate went up after I had an accident so I shopped around and found a better price with a new company. If I switch to that new company, will my old company tell them about my crash? Can the new company get information from my old one?
Answer
The new insurance company is likely to find out about the accident, but that will come from your driving reports when you buy your policy. The majority of insurance companies request a motor vehicle report (MVR) and a comprehensive loss underwriting exchange (CLUE) report to verify the accuracy of a new customer's driving record. When a police officer files an accident report or issues a ticket, that gets included on your MVR report. When a claim is filed with an insurance company, they list that incident on your CLUE report. The information on your reports are valuable to insurance companies so they can verify the accuracy of your driving history before they agree to cover you. Getting quotes without accurately listing your driving history is really a big waste of time because the rates that you are seeing will be significantly different than the price you ultimately end up paying. In addition, some companies can even charge a higher rate for not disclosing an accident or ticket. Being forthcoming with your driving history will help you to avoid headaches later. Best of luck!